Water cooler



May 16, 1933.

o. l.. LINK 1,909,288

WATER COOLER Filed Sept. 29, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet l lr' l O. L. LINK WATER COOLER May 16, 1933.v

Filed Sept. 29, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 MMW fx lllllvllll lulllilllilln nl v Alalllllllr lllllll..

Patented May 16, 1933 OLivER L. LINK, OE sT'. CHARLES, MISSOURI WATER COOLER Application led September 29, 1930. Serial No. 485,246.

The` present invention relates to water coolers, andaims to provide a water cooler of novel vand improved construction which is sanitary and easy to clean, the cooler being i intended particularly for use Lon railroad With the foregoing andother objects'in View, which-will'be apparent as'the description proceeds, the invention resides in the construction and arrangement lof parts, as hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes-can bel made within the scope of what is claimed, without departing from' the spirit of the invention.

Theinvention is illustrated in the raccompanying drawings, wherein- Y vFigure 1 is a front view of the improved water cooler. A i

`Fig.'2 is a vertical section thereof taken on the line2-2'of Fig. 3. 1

l Fig. Sis ahorizontal section on-the line 33of Fig. 2,'on an enlarged scale. i

-Fig.'4 is a vplan View of the base and drip pan, on an enlarged scale.

The water tank orcontainer 7 is preferably of rectangular cross-section, as seen in Fig. 3, and is elongated vertically, its walls K and bottom being preferably Ofsheet metal.

The water tank is housed within a casing l8, which ispreferably constructed'with'insulated Walls, consistingin cork, asbestos or other insulating material disposed between inner and outer sheet metal shells. The front walls of the tank and casing are spaced apart, as seen in Figs. 2 and 3,'to provide an icev compartment or chamber between them. l

The front wall of the casing 8 is provided at the lower portion vof the casing with an alcove 9, which may be a metalfcasting or sheetfmetal stamping, within which thev faucet 10 is located, so as notto project from the casing,':thereby'protecting the faucet.

The casing has a false bottom 11 in rear of the alcove 9, and a water discharge pipe 12 leading` to the faucet 10 is located below said false bottom 11 and is connected y* to Va fitting 13'- which is screw-threaded on 55 the lower end of a Spud or nipple 14 passing through the bottom 11 and having a flange 15v seated onY said bottom.

The tank has a discharge tuberl depending from its bottom and passing down through the spud 14 and fitting 13, yand a gasket 17 is disposed on said tube to seat l onrthe flange 15, thereby closing the Opening of the spud 14 whenV the tank 7 is in place. y

A cap 18 is screw-threaded on"v the lower 65 protruding end of the tube .16y and bears upwardly against the fitting 13, in order to draw the tank 7 downwardly so as to compress the gasket 17 in order to prevent leakn age from the ice compartment down through 710 the spud 14. .A- gasket maybe placed between the cap 18 and fitting 13. 'Said cap has the handle 19 for convenientlyapplyin'g and removing thek cap, andis connected byy a chain or flexible element 20 kwith. a false 75 bottom 11, so that the cap-will not b'elost when detachedrfrom the tube. Y

The tube 16`v has apertures 21 therein for 'the How of water from the' tank into the pipeV .12. so

The faucet 10 has a handle 22 which is hinged to swing downwardlyVV for opening the faucet, this type of faucet being in common use. The alcove 9 has a curved top 23 so arranged that when the handle 22-is depressed for opening the faucet and is then turned rearwardly, the handle, as seen in dotted lines in Fig. 2, lwill be held down, in

which event the faucet may be held open forv draining the water from the tank. When' the handle 22 is removed from the curved portion 23 of the alcove, the faucet will be closed by its spring,as usual.

The base 24 is dished and has an upturned rim or flange 25 within which is seated'the 95 lower end of the wallsl of the casing 8. Said base 24 has a drain opening 2 6 to which the drain pipe' is connected. The base has an upstanding yflange 27 lsurrounding they, opening 26' to provide a liquid seal, in connection with a cap or hood 28 which is placed over the fiange 27, in order to prevent gas from passing backwardly or upwardly through the opening 26. The cap 28 has apertures 29 below the upper edge of the flange 27 and liquid level of the seal, to permit the water to fiow to the opening 26, and said cap has radial fianges 30 on its rim to maintain the cap in position Within the annular channel of the base surrounding the opening 26 and ange 27.

A drip pan or bowl 31, which may be a metal casting as is also the base 24, is disposed under the alcove 9 and is disposed within a recess of the front wall of the base 24, to catch water dripping from the faucet 10.or the cup which is being filled therefrom. The pan 31 has fianges 32 at its opposite sides secured to the base 24, and the pan has drain apertures 33 with upper grooves 34 leading to said apertures, in order that the water willdrain from the pan into the base. The pan 31 has a depending flange 35 immediately in front of the apertures 33 to prevent the water which runs through the apertures 33 from running forwardly along the bottom of the pan 3l.

Cross bars 36 are secured to opposite sides of the casing 8 at vertically spaced points, in order-to guide the'tank 7 into place and hold it against the back wall of the casing. Said bars have apertures 37 receiving a vertical pipe 38 whose lower terminal is tapered, as at 39, and seated within a tapered :spud or nipple 40 secured through the false bottom `11. The pipe 38 has a drain aperture 41 at a suitable height to determine the -level of the ice water in the ice compartment, said ice water overiowing through the aperture 41 into thel base 24.

By lifting the pipe 38 the spud or nipple 40 is opened so as to drain all of the ice water from the ice compartment.

The top of the water tank 7, which may be a metal casting, is formed with a cup 42 -located partly below and partly above the top ofthe tank. The bottomof the cup 42 is provided .with apertures 43, so that the cup provides a strainer to strain the water which is poured into the tank. A sponge or other filtering material may be located in said cup to filter the water. A cover 44 is hinged, as at 45, on the top of the tank to seat on the rim of the cup 42, and said cover may be readily swung open for filling the tank or for cleaning same out with steam or other suitable iuid.

The tank 7 khas a handle 46 at its upper end for conveniently lifting the tank from the casing, and the casing has a removable closed by a rearwardly inclined door 49 which is hinged at its lower edge, as at 51, to the front wall of the casing.

Said door 49 may be swung forwardly, as seen in dotted lines in Fig. 2, for conveniently dumping ice into the ice compartment. A secondary door 50 is also hingedas at 51, so as to extend rearwardly overthe ice, and said door 50 may also be swung outwardly, as seen in dotted lines in Fig. 2, when placing the ice in the casing.

When the cap 18 is unscrewed from the tube 16, the water tank may be lifted from the casing, forpurpose of cleaning, and all the water in the tank 7 and tube 16 is drained therefrom assoon as the cap 18 is removed. Any sediment in the tank 7 will pass to the lower end of the tube 16 below the apertures 21, so asto be discharged when the cap 18 is removed. Thisv enables the water tank and other parts to` be readily cleaned, to maintain sanitary conditions.

When lling the ice compartment, the pipe 38 may be raised to drain the water from said compartment, before recharging the cooler with ice. The cooler may also be conveniently iced by opening the door 49, which also gives access'to the drain pipe 38, without removing the cover 47.

Having thus' described the invention, what is claimed as new is 1. A water cooler comprising a casing, a fitting secured tothe bottom thereof, a discharge pipe connecting to said fitting, la water tank in the casing havin a'depending discharge tube projecting tlgirough said fitting and apertured to communicate with said pipe, and a cap removably secured on the end of said tube and seating against said fitting. Y

`2. A water cooler comprising a casing, a fitting secured to the bottom thereof, a discharge pipe connected to said fitting a water tank in the casing having a dependin discharge tube projecting through said tting and apertured therein to communicate with said pipe, a gasket surrounding the tube between the bottoms of the tank and casing, and a cap screw-threaded on the lower end of said tube and seating upwardly againstv said fitting.

3. A water cooler comprising a casing, a water tank therein, said casing and tank having spaced walls, said wall of the casing having an upper opening, and a door for said opening hinged at its lower edge to said wall to swin outwardly for the introduction of ice t rough said opening into the casing.

4. A water cooler comprising a casing having an alcove,a water tank in said casing, and a discharge faucet for said tank located in said alcove and havingan operating handle, said alcove being formed for Vthe engagement of said handle to hold the faucet open.l

5. A Water cooler comprising a casing, ak

Water tank in said casing, a discharge faucet connected with the tank, a base for` the casing to catch Water dripping from the casing, tank and faucet, said base having an outlet With an upstanding flange surrounding said outlet, and a cap disposed over said flange to provide a Water'seal said cap having apertures belovsT the top of said upstanding flange.

6. A Water cooler comprising a casing having an alcove, a Water tank in said casing, a discharge faucet for said tank located in said alcove, a base for said casing having an outlet, and a drip pan below the faucet apertured to drain Water therefrom into said base, the alcove Wall having a recess receiving said pan.

7. A Water cooler comprising a casing, a Water tank in the casing, a cup having an apertured bottom cast integrally With the top of the tank, and a cover seatablekon the rim of the cup. f

8. A Water cooler comprising a casing, a Water tank therein, a cup having an apertured bottom cast integrally With the top of the tank, the said cup being partly above and partly below the top of the tank, and a hinged cover seatable on the rim of the cup.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aiiiX myV signature.

OLIVER L. LINK. 

